Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Context

Castle Rackrent (1800) is one of the most important
Irish novels in the English language and, from the very first,
generated considerable debate among readers and critics. In part,
this was due to the fact that the novel was published at a
particularly significant moment in Irish and British history, the
year 1800, which saw the dissolution of the Irish parliament in
Dublin and the enactment of the Union between Britain and Ireland.
The publication of a fiction that implicitly took the relationship
between Ireland and Britain as its subject was certain to attract
considerable critical attention, and George III himself was
reported to have read it and declared “what what – I know something
now of my Irish subjects” (…

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6131Castle Rackrent3Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.